Loading device for vehicles



Dec. 29 1925. 1,567,478

E. VONNEZ ET AL LOADING DEVICE FOR VEHICLES Filed March 11, 1921 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 75 ziwmzws:

Dec. 29, 1925.

E.- VONNEZ El AL LOADING DEVICE FOR VEHICLES Filed March 11, 1921 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 wy, m

Dec. 29,1925. 1,567,478

' E. VONNEZ El AL LOADING DEVICE FOR VEHICLES Filed March 11, 1921 3 Sheets-Sheet :5

atented men. il i925.

nn'e v0 4 ES J'AQUEhEOT, OF GENEVA, SWITZE 1:. H

manure nnvrcn roe. vnnrcrns.

' Application filed March 11, 192i. Serial No. 451,430.

e To all wkom z't may concern:

the following statement.

. The object of this invention is to. provide a device for loading vehicles of known design and allowing a given automobile vehicle to receive a plurality of interchangeable bridges, allowing at one place a bridge independent of the vehicle to be loaded, while'the vehicle is conveying goods pregrammatically viously loaded upon another bridge to another place. I The accompanying drawings show .dia-

and by way of example, em

I bodiments of the invention.

J the goods or Fig. 1 shows a. vehicle atthe rear of fwhich, and independently from-the vehicle,

a bri is placed onthe ground, ready. to be rai s cd onto the vehicle. I

Fig. 2 illustrates how the bridge at the beginning of its tilting motion, is brought, upon the vehicle.

Fig. 3 represents the same device after the bridge has completed its tilting motion and is brought intoits final position on the vehicle. v F 1 shows the device when the inde-v pendent bridge is being unloaded. and is forced by the winch of. the vehicle'intoa more or less vertical position for unloading the load," as for instance, sand or the e.' I

' Fig. 5 represents another embodiment of the invention, the bridge shown being par ticularly adapted for loading brick and simi- A#--B of Fig. 7, and

* lar' material.

fFig. 6 shows a'modified'form of bridge 3 lparticularly adapted for loading "and oading sand and the like.

Fig. 7 is a plan view, on an enlarged scale, of the front part of an interch able 1 ridge, adapted to facilitate. the loading of the latter. Fig. 8 is a vertical section on the hue Fig. 8? is a. section on line of Fig. 7. In Figs. 1 to 4, a is an automobile vehicle, of which the frame carries a winch out get action.

0 and bearings for a shaft d. This shaft is partly of rectangular cross-section (Fig. 7) and is provided at its middle with a pulley (5 having a groove for receiving a rope or chain c. The edges of this groove serve at the same timeas a support for the middle part of a removable brid e i. The shaft (Z carries on each of its ends, guide rollers 9 upon which can engage the longitudinal side beams k of the independent bridge 2'. The removable bridge 11 is provided at its front end with a hook is (Fig. 2) onto which the free extremity of rope e can be fixed. On

the rear end of the bridge 2' another hook 7 1: (Fig. 2) is provided, onto which the extremity of a rope an, attached to the winch c,'can beattached for a purpose tobe later explained.

Q When the different members of the loacl- 7 ing device arch the position of Fig. 1, if the motor of the vehicle, which is adapted for driving the winch a, is started, the rope e passing over the pulley d begins to raise the front end of. the bridge 71 until its middle portion, which is properly designed therefor, comes to rest upon the edges of the oved pulley d while subsequently the longltudinal beams 72. come to rest upon the Cal rollers g. If now the pull of,the which 0 on the rope e continues, the bridge 2' will successively take the positions according to Figs. 2 and 3, and finally reach the end of its course. v

. .In the figures of drawing the bridge '5 is represented as empty, for the purpose of rendering the drawings more clear. When the bridge is loaded the functions of the device are unchanged; During the manipulations above described,.the rope m IeInaInS 1 In order to unload a load carried by the bridge 21 the free end of the r0 e m attached to winch c is passed over a pul ey n'suitably fixed below therear truck and is brought around the back endof the vehicle proper and finally attached to front hook k. The winch d is then'rotated in a direction opposite to that in which it rotated for loading, so that the rope is uncoiled while a tractive force is exercised on the rope m and thereby the bridge 2' is. caused to slowly slide backwards on the rollers 9 until the weight of the load makes it tilt over the rear end. Up to the moment at which the rear end of the bridge z'touches the ground, the ropes e and m are both stretched taut (see Fig.

graduallyaccording as the speed of, the un- 5), but at that moment the rope m is released from the hook k either by hand or in any other suitable manner. While the rope e continues to unwind the longer-lever arm of front part of the bridge 2' is finally completely free from the rollers g and pulley d and winding of rope 0 allows it,'the bridge will be lowered fiat onto the ground (Fig. 11).

If the bridge 1' is not to be laid flat on the ground, but brought into a more or less vertical position, say' as shown in Fig. 4, the rope m may at the very moment of the-tilt ing of the bridge 2', bef-released from the hook is by hand or in any known suitable manner and thereupon be attached to another hook at the rear of the bridge such for, instance as the hook is. It is evident that as the winch c continues to rotate in the same direction, the rope -e finally becomes loose-as per Figv4.

hen the bridge 2' is caused to again take its horizontal position on the vehicle (Fig. 2) no blow is to'be feared since the center of gravity of the bridge 2' is transferred only when in front of the pivot al and after the bridge has nearly reached its horizontal position on the frame Z), and further, owing to thesuitable choice of the height of the winch onto which the rope e is wound, the bridge i is slowly brought from its slanting, into a horizontal, position. a

Any sudden change of the position of the bridge 2', causing a shock or a blow is thus avoided.

Fig. 5 shows another design for the bridge a manner In which itcan'be carried out, we

,2' WlllCll is'particularly adapted for loading and unloading building materials, as bricks for instance, which bridge otherwise is manipulated in exactly the same miinner as described with reference to the one illus-' trated in Figs. 1 to 4.

The box like bridge shown in Fig. 6 is adapted for loading and unloading sand and simllar material. As shown, the bridge loaded on'a truck 0, can be .brought close to" the rear of the vehicle a. 'l jhe bridge'z', as represented in Figs. 5 and 6, of suitably reduced length, is provided with lateral abut,-

Inents p which are adapted to engage, after a the bridge has completed part of its backward motion, with the rounded extremities of the roller shaft (Z (Fig. 7), whereby the bridge i is caused to tilt on the rollers g and pulley al and to take a vertical position either for unloading or for loading bricks and "sand". It is evident that it is essential that that part of the bridge 1' which is situated rearward of the shaft 1 be in any case not longer than the distance of said-shaft d from the ground or from the plane onto mately vertical (Fig. 6). v In order to facilitatetheiraising of the positionof the bridge floor which the rear wall of the bridge is to come I torest, in order "to allow at least an approxrfl bridge '5 such as described, its front part is preferably designed as shown on an enlarged scale, in the Figs. 7 and 8.

A cast guidingmember n of bow shape, is fixed to the front central part of the bridge i and will, at tife moment 'whenfthe bridge reaches the height ofthe guiding pulley (Z come to bear on the edges of the pulley *bc-' fore the side beams h of the bridge 71 contact with the lateral rollers 9 (Fig. 7). 'Such an arrangement allows the load to be taken directly from the ground without it being necessary to bring the vehicle exactly into line with the bridge to be moved since the roller shaft 01 is allowed to swivelin'its bearings 61 (Fig. 7). To hold the shaft 01 on the vehicle, while allowing it to swivel, the ends of. the shaft, inside the rollers g are receivedin enclosing brackets d Shaft 03, as pointed out above, is of square cross section throughout most of its length, as indicated by the crossed lines on the same, in

Fig. 7.

Instead of providing for fixed hooksk,

70 the position of the points at which the f ropes m and e are attached for moving the bridge 2' can be variable and even movable, for instance, 1n such a way that 1n a given posltion ofthe bridge a one rope, by means of a suitable arrangement can, in any known,

man'ner,either in unwinding or in winding up, move along the rope and release the same at the moment at. which the bridge has reached a predetermined position. Havingnow described the invention and ground to a position on the frame, and the other cable being operable to move the I bridge from the frame to the ground, a 1, 9

guide pulley on the rear end of the frame, a single contact member on the center front of' the bridge, the single contact member 5" and guide pulley contacting before any other portion of the bridge touches the veonto the frame.

hicle frame, .upon the-bridge being brought,

2. A device according to claim 1, a

pulley on the rear end of the frame, a single gontact'member on the center front end of the bridge and projecting beyond the bridge end, the single contact member and guide pulley contacting before any other portion member positioned in-the longitudinal cen- "tral plane of the bridge, the bridge having side, longitudinal guide girders.

3. A device according to claim 1, a guide pulley at the center of the rear end of said frame, guide rollers at the sides of the rear end of the frame, a central contact member on" the front end of said bridge, and longitudinal side rails on the bridge, the pulley and rollers and the contact member and siderails being positioned to respectively conframe.

4.- A devlce according to claim 1, a guide pulley at the center of the 'rear end of said frame, guide rollers at the sides'of the rear end of the frame, a central contact member on the front end of said bridge, and longitudinal side rails on the bridge, the pulley and rollers and the contact member and side rails being positioned to respectively contact upon the bridge being brought onto the frame, saidcontact member projecting beyond the front end of the bridge, and the lower front ends of the side rails being undercut.

A device as described, comprising, in combination, a vehicle frame, a winch on the frame, two cables connected to the winch, and a plurality of interchangeable loading bridges for receiving goods, said .bridges each having a plurality of members 1 frame and carrying said vehicle frame, the abutments engaging the members fixed on the vehicle frame, to therebycause the bridge to rock soas to bring its floor into a vertical position.

6. A device according to claim 1, the distance from saidab utments to the rear end of the bridge not exceeding the distance from the ground to said members fixed to the vehicle frame. 7 a

7. A device according to claim 1, a guide pulley on therear end of the frame, a single contact member on the center front end of the bridge and projecting beyond the bridge end, the single contact member and guide pulley contacting before any other portion of the bridge touches the vehicle frame,

upon the bridge being brought onto the tact upon the bridge being brought onto the member positioned in the longitudinal cen tral plane of the bridge, the bridge having side, longitudinal guide girders, and a shaft pivoted to the vehicle frame and carrying said guide pulley.

9. A device according to claim 1, a guide pulley at the center of the rear end of said frame, guide rollers at the sides of the rear end of the frame, acentral contact member on the front end of said bridge, and longitudinal side rails on the bridge, the pulley and rollers and the contact member and side rails being positioned to respectively contact upon the bridge being brought onto the frame, and a shaft pivoted to the vehicle guide pulley and guide rollers.

In testimony whereof we aflix our signatures.

EUGENE VON N EZ.

CHARLES J AQUEMOT. 

